The Long Con
by GeorgeGlass
Summary: Jacob was in love with Bella until she gave birth to the center of his universe.  Or so she thought.  "How could I possibly explain my continued presence in her life now?  All I had to do was lie."  Picks up at the moment Jacob imprinted - or claimed to.
1. The Ruse

**I'm not abandoning Vanquished. It remains my top priority. To be honest, I'm not even sure I'll see this particular story through to its conclusion. Nevertheless, the idea came to me like a trainwreck, and I felt I had no choice. It had to be written.**

**This fic could actually be construed as canonic, in that it follows canon events in the third act of _Breaking Dawn_. It could also be construed as anti-Twilight, and can certainly be considered anti-Jacob. Which is funny, because I've always adored Jacob. Well, if I can write a pro-Edward fic, I suppose I can write an anti-Jacob one, right?**

**As always, I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.**

Chapter One – The Ruse

It was a burst of inspiration that struck me as I was on my way to destroy the demon-thing that had ended Bella's life. What if Edward was actually able to save Bella? So she wouldn't be human anymore. She would still be Bella, wouldn't she? At least, there was a chance of that. I _could_ kill the demon-thing that she had willingly sacrificed her humanity for in a fit of rage and vengeance. That would sort of put a damper on my intention of usurping Edward's position as her life-partner though, wouldn't it? Somehow, I didn't think she'd be okay with me killing the very thing she'd sacrificed so much to save. How, though, could I possibly explain my continued presence in her life now that she was married and had given birth to the spawn of Captain Wonder Sparkles?

The answer was so simple.

All I had to do was lie.

If I could get Bella (and, by extension, the creepy thing she called her husband who was upstairs trying to keep her "alive" through his "gift" of vampire DNA) to believe that I was no longer hanging around for _her_, but for her half-dead successor, I could insinuate myself into her life as much as I wanted to.

And I wanted to. A _lot_.

Fooling the other leeches would be easy. Fooling Edward would be more difficult. Fooling the Clearwaters would be the trickiest part of all. I couldn't let anyone know that this was all an elaborate ploy to be near Bella, because if anyone thought of it around Edward, it would be game over for me.

Game over, in my case, was permanent. I didn't have a stockpile of extra lives stored up. Those were for cats anyway, not wolves.

Well, let's consider this for a moment. If I wanted Bella to choose me, I had to be ready to accept the very likely possibility that I would have to play Daddy to that _thing_ that had Blondie so preoccupied with her oohing and ahhing. Hell, maybe I could talk Bella into pawning Satan's seed off on the one that really wanted her. In any case, it wouldn't do for Bella to know I cared nothing for her offspring. All I really had to do was put myself in the mindset of the caring and protective father. I could keep that up. It wasn't too differently from how Quil thought of Claire. If I could force myself to think of the demon-thing that way, I should be able to fool Edward and the Clearwaters easily enough.

I thought back to the memories that Quil, Sam, Jared, and even (ugh) Paul had shared of the moment they imprinted. I didn't enjoy being forced to think of my own sister in that light. As a matter of fact, I didn't enjoy the fact that _anyone_ thought of her in that light. Least of all Paul, the vulgar-minded oaf who, in addition to any number of other offenses, had nearly maimed Bella. Had it really only been a year and a half ago?

Focus, Jake. Focus. I had the basic idea of the thoughts that spun through their minds at the moment they saw their imprint for the first time, and I could mimic their facial expressions easily enough; I'd seen the way they made sappy goo-goo eyes at the girls hundreds of times. I could do this. I _had_ to do this. From now on, I'd have to be in compete control of my thoughts when I was around Captain Wonder Sparkles too. At the moment, he was too focused on the task at hand to pay much attention to what I was thinking. I disgusted myself by being momentarily grateful for the actions he was taking to save my Bella's life. Those actions would never have been necessary if he hadn't been such a selfish ass. Thinking only of himself. Not even bothering to protect Bella in the most simplistic of ways because all he cared about was his own physical pleasure. This was the guy she chose over me?

All right, no more delays. It was showtime. I was going to pull this off or die trying.

I stared at the thing in Blondie's arms—no more thinking of her as _the thing_ from here on out, I chastised myself—and forced myself to think ooey-gooey thoughts about how wonderful and perfect and amazing and adorable she was, and how my entire world was being transformed. That was true enough. My world had been transformed from a lifetime of banishment from Bella's life to a lifetime of being near Bella and trying to win her over through her daughter. I let that thought take me over for just long enough that a slow, goofy smile spread over my face, then forced my thoughts back to how terrific and incredible the little girl was. Renesmee. I'd have to come up with a nickname for her or something. Renesmee was a stupid name.

I kept the ridiculous expression plastered on my face. It was easier to maintain if I let my eyes unfocus so I didn't have to look at the posterity of my Bella and Satan himself. Just as well. Keeping my eyes unfocused added to the illusion of sappiness that I was trying to create.

"Can I help you, dog? Do you need some kibble?" Blondie snapped, cradling the child protectively to her chest.

"Renesmee," I murmured. Was she buying it?

"What the hell is the matter with you? Run along now and lift your leg on a tree."

Dammit, hadn't Bella told her anything about imprinting?

"Oh _snap_, no you didn't!" Emmett's voice boomed. He looked at my face, then the baby, then back at my face and burst into raucous laughter. And people thought he was the dumb one.

"No," Alice whispered, her eyes flicking frantically between me and the baby as if staring at us rapidly enough would stop what was happening. Not that it was actually happening, but I was a fine actor.

Jasper was looking at me with a confused expression. Right, empath. I'd have to become a method actor. Without taking my eyes off Renesmee, I made my heart swell with the emotion I felt for Bella and added to it, kept increasing it and building on it until it came close to resembling what the imprinted wolves felt for _their_ imprints. The goofy expression on my face became even more ridiculous, but what did I care? I'd convinced the empathic freak.

"Is this... Is this why I couldn't _see_ her?" Alice stammered. "Because her life is tied up with yours?"

"No idea," I answered honestly. I really had no clue why Alice couldn't see Renesmee, but if the fact that she couldn't would help me convince everyone, so be it.

"Well it's just _fantastic_ that you've all figured out some mystical secret," Blondie growled. "Now would someone mind filling me in on the details?"

"Jacob imprinted on Renesmee," Emmett explained in between guffaws. "Bella's gonna love this."

"You—what?" Blondie spat. For a split second, she was horrified. Then a gleam of amusement overcame her. Funny, I didn't even think Blondie had a sense of humor, except when it came to humiliating me. "Well, it's only for three days," she laughed.

"Imprinting is forever," I informed her with conviction. That part, at least, was the truth.

"Perhaps, but in three days, Bella's going to find out what happened and tear you to shreds, and I certainly won't stand in her way," Blondie grinned.

"Bella won't hurt me," I said firmly. Would she? I hadn't even thought about that possibility. She loved me; that much was certain. Would she consider me to be good enough for her daughter? This was getting tricky. I wished I'd thought this through a little better.

"Don't be so sure about that," Blondie hissed. She turned her face downward to Rensemee and began cooing again. "Don't worry, little one. We won't let the big bad wolf get you. Mommy will get rid of him before he huffs and puffs and blows our house in."

My first instinct was to rip Blondie's head off where she stood, but of course, that would probably hurt Renesmee. I had to start thinking more like someone who had imprinted on the baby. I would never be willing to take a chance on hurting her if it had actually happened. So instead, I took a deep breath and sat beside Blondie on the couch, cooing over the baby myself. "Hi little Nessie-Wessie," I said, waggling my fingers in her face. The baby immediately stopped sucking on the bottle and grabbed my finger. Blondie made a disgusted noise, right up until the baby popped my finger in her mouth and bit down.

"Ouch!" I cried out, jerking my hand away. Aware of the eyes on me, I leaned in again. "Awww, Nessie-Wessie likes to bite Jakey-Wakey, doesn't she? That's okay. You can bite me. I just didn't realize you were going to. It surprised me." I hoped that had been a convincing enough save.

"Nessie-Wessie?" Emmett started laughing all over again. "Man, I thought having Bella around made our lives interesting before, but this just gets better and better."

"Nessie-Wessie likes her new name, doesn't she?" I grinned, more because I was irritating the living hell out of Blondie than anything else, but it helped with the act. The baby lifted her hand to my face and what happened next caused me to jerk back in surprise again.

She'd shown me something. Images, with an emotion behind them.

"She actually _does_ like the name," I said in surprise.

"How could you _possibly_ know that?" Blondie retorted.

"Show your aunt Rosalie," I coaxed Nessie, knowing that I had to at least pretend to treat her family with respect. "Show her what you showed me."

Obediently, Nessie reached for Blondie's face and showed her the same thing.

"Oh," was all Blondie said. "Well what Nessie likes, Nessie gets."

Nessie smiled up at me.

This was going to be trickier than I thought.

**A/N: So, what do you guys think? Worth continuing? Let me know. I can take this to the end of _Breaking Dawn_ if there's interest, but if not, I can leave it here. And no, I'm not holding the story hostage for reviews. I'm just not totally sure I'm in love with this story. Too much Jacob-love in me, I guess. =)**


	2. Weaving a Tangled Web

**Thanks for the feedback, ladies! I'm going to continue this story, at least for now. To be honest, I'm kicking around multiple different ending ideas, as there are at least three different ways I can think of to go with this. There's an awful lot of ground to cover before I have to make a decision though. **

**As always, I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.**

Chapter Two – Weaving a Tangled Web

Convincing the rest of the leeches hadn't been too difficult at all. Even Captain Wonder Sparkles himself had believed the ruse readily enough. I felt the slightest twinge of pity for him. I knew that he loved Bella as much as any dead thing could love someone. He must be beside himself at her near death, and he was still fairly convinced that he'd done something wrong, that she wouldn't undergo the transformation as normal. That was the only explanation for why I'd convinced him so easily, and furthermore, why he hadn't ripped my arms and legs off as soon as he'd gotten the news.

I had braced myself. I had prepared for the end of my life. I was sure it must be imminent. My headstrong plan hadn't really taken into account that the leech already sort of wanted me dead for my interest in his wife—I still had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that my Bella was _married_ to that thing—and my unwillingness to back down. He was already a mess because he blamed himself for Bella's pain and suffering. For him to come downstairs and find that his newborn daughter was apparently betrothed to his mortal enemy... Well, how much could one person take, anyway?

Had I really just thought of Edward as a person?

I must be losing it.

Still, even though I'd mentally prepared for the worst-case scenario, Edward had simply stared at me for awhile before giving a defeated sigh. "I don't suppose it would do me much good to be upset with you, would it, Wolf?" he'd asked me wearily. "You can't un-imprint, can you?"

I shook my head, filling my mind with images of a happy Nessie and forcing myself to think of things I could do to make her that happy. Without another word, he had trudged back upstairs to watch over Bella some more.

It was almost unfair how well that had gone. I knew he hadn't been in his right mind, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I might have pulled the wool over everyone's eyes, but I had to keep up the facade, and the biggest challenge was still yet to come. I had to convince Seth and Leah.

That, too, turned out to be easier than I'd expected. Seth was such a kindhearted kid, it didn't even dawn on him to think that someone might ever try to deceive him. It didn't hurt that he looked up to me so much, either. It made me feel guilty, lying to Seth. It was a lot like stealing candy from a baby, and not just because it was supposed to be so easy to do, as the expression was meant to convey. No, stealing candy from a baby was actually a pretty cruel thing to do. Sure, the baby's parents could presumably get more candy, but a baby's life experiences are limited. That piece of candy might just be the best thing that ever happened to that baby up to that point in time, and by stealing it, you're wrecking it and upsetting someone totally innocent. That was what it felt like to lie to Seth.

I didn't feel guilty at all about lying to Leah. There was nothing innocent about her. Leah was all right, I supposed. We'd bonded a little over the days just before Nessie was born. But kind-hearted and innocent were two adjectives that would never apply to her. Leah hated imprinting, and it was easy to understand why. Losing Sam had been the defining moment of her life, and it had happened seemingly without reason. Only after she unexpectedly joined the pack did she understand why it had happened, but even knowing that it truly wasn't Sam's fault had done nothing to mend her broken heart. It had left her jilted and fed up with the entire concept of love, and it had given her an especially bad taste in her mouth about imprinting. She was only too happy to believe that imprinting would play a cruel joke on me by shoving me into a lifetime of servitude toward our mortal enemies. She had actually laughed when I told her the news. Laughed at me, not with me.

I wanted to avoid phasing for the next couple of days though, just to be on the safe side. I used the excuse that I wanted to be present when Bella woke up so that I could protect Nessie from her. I insisted on referring to Bella's transformation in that way. I knew what she would be, but I couldn't stand to think about it. Not yet. The real reason I didn't want to phase, of course, was so that I could get in a little more practice at centering my thoughts around Nessie. I'd certainly planted the seeds with my mini-pack, but I wanted to be sure that I could keep it up before I shared a mind with them.

Unfortunately, avoiding phasing hadn't been in the cards for me. Sam's pack still wanted to kill Nessie for being an unknown danger and an aberration against nature. As much as a part of me did agree with him, and as much as I had to internally fight myself not to recoil from her strange touch, I had to stay in character. Nessie was supposed to be my imprint. Naturally, I couldn't allow Sam to destroy her. I had run back to La Push in wolf form just because it was the quickest way to travel. I had planned on phasing back into human form when I got there so I could speak to Sam. Seth and Leah ran with me, which meant I had to keep the charade up full-force. I found that they still believed me if I thought about Bella in the past tense. After all, we'd all heard Sam thinking of Leah and how he still cared for her after finding Emily. It certainly wasn't a stretch to think that I might still have fond memories of Bella after I "imprinted."

I was surprised to find that I was able to communicate with Sam as a wolf after all. I'd found out entirely by accident. Sam was taking a shift at patrol when I was trying to track him by scent, thinking _Sam, Sam, where are you, Sam?_

_Jacob? Have you come back to join your brothers in our stand against the Cold Ones?_

I hadn't been expecting that in the slightest. _I thought we couldn't hear them anymore once we split off to form our own pack_, I muttered to Seth and Leah.

_What are you talking about, oaf? I don't hear anything_, Leah answered.

_Seriously? You didn't hear Sam just then? Did you finally become adept at blocking him out? _ I thought sarcastically.

_I didn't hear anything either, Jacob_, Seth told me. I continued to argue with the Clearwaters, assuming that Sam could hear everything. After a minute or two, I heard Sam again.

_Jacob? Where did you go?_

_ I've been right here the whole time arguing with Seth and Leah. Haven't you been listening?_ This was insane. Why was everyone acting like they couldn't hear each other.

_I haven't heard anything from either of them, and I only heard from you just now. I've been speaking to my packmates as well. Did you hear any of that?_ Sam answered.

_You have? No, not a word. Okay, this is weird. I guess we can talk to each other, but only if we direct our thoughts that way?_

_ So it would seem,_ Sam agreed.

_Jacob, what's going on?_ Seth whined.

_Not now, Seth. Give me a minute. Apparently, Sam and I can talk, but it's different._

_ Different how?_ Leah demanded.

_I'll explain later!_ I answered, exasperated. _Sam? _ I asked hesitantly.

_Yes, I can hear you, Jacob._

_ Okay. Well, to answer your question, no, I'm not going to stand with you against the Cullens. The treaty stands. I personally granted Edward permission to save Bella._ It took a great deal of effort to keep myself from saying Bella's name with the same reverence I'd used for the past year. _As the heir of Ephraim Black, even you cannot overrule my decision._

Sam was quiet for a few minutes, though whether he was considering the challenge in my voice or conferring with his packmates, I had no idea. _So be it,_ he said at last. _There is still the matter of the child._

_ The child cannot be harmed,_ I said simply in a tone of absolute finality.

_The child could present a danger— _Sam began to argue with me.

_She is my imprint._

Once again, Sam was silent for an agonizingly long time. I hid my unease from Seth and Leah. Things could go very, very bad if Sam decided to launch an attack anyway, because I wouldn't be able to display the proper level of grief and maintain it for the rest of my life.

_That changes things,_ Sam said at last. _Of course we will not destroy the object of your imprinting. Be at peace, Jacob. _He paused. _Will you consider rejoining us, now that the danger has passed?_

_ Guys? He wants to know if we'll rejoin the pack._ I surveyed the Clearwaters.

_Fat chance, _Leah snorted.

_I like it here!_ Seth replied excitedly.

_Sorry, Sam. We prefer to remain separate for now. We mean you no harm or disrespect. We find it... peaceful. Especially Leah. _

For the third time, there was a long pause from Sam. This time, I was sure he wasn't consulting his own pack, but considering my words and carefully choosing his own. _If that is how it must be_, he told me finally. He had no more desire to see Leah suffer than he had to suffer himself.

I was ready to celebrate. I had pulled it off. I had fooled everyone into believing the lie, and more than that, I had restored the treaty and had made peaceful relations with the other pack. 

My celebration was short-lived. To my irritation, Edward's attitude toward me started to change as he became more confident about Bella's condition. While he had initially accepted my imprinting with an air of defeat, he gradually started to size me up as a suitor to his daughter. The looks he would give me made me more and more uncomfortable as time went on. I avoided talking to him as much as I could, but by the time Bella was getting close to coming around, I still got the distinct impression that he would gladly kill me where I stood if it wouldn't upset her so much.

"Yes," he answered my thoughts honestly. "Don't think I'll stand in her way if she wants to kill you herself." With that, he'd stalked back up to his usual place of silent vigil at Bella's side.

All this talk about Bella wanting to murder me was starting to get frightening. Was that actually possible? Well... Regardless, this was the only shot I still had. I had to take it. It was worth the risk. Ether it would work, or I'd die. Either way, I wouldn't be suffering anymore at watching the woman I loved dote on a bloodsucker.

On top of everything else, Blondie had taken my imprinting on Nessie as a personal affront to her. She saw Nessie as _her_ child, even though she must have realized it wasn't true. Everyone was assuming that Bella would be totally uncontrollable for a year or so, and Blondie was all too happy to take up the role of Mommy until Bella was able to do it herself. Having me around, theoretically bound to the infant _she_ wanted sort of threw a wrench in her plans.

In a way though, Blondie's annoyance with me only made the facade easier to maintain. Pretending to imprint on Nessie was one thing. Pretending to get along with Blondie was something I wasn't sure I could do. As it turned out, I didn't have to.

"I'm going to do that," I announced when I saw Blondie about to feed Nessie another bottle of blood. The idea turned my stomach, but it irritated Blondie, which was sort of the goal.

"Over my dead body, Dog," Blondie replied.

"If you insist," I growled, snatching the bottle away from her. She hissed at me as I cooed in an exaggerated voice at Nessie. "Nessie-Wessie wants Jakey-Wakey to feed her, doesn't she?" I grinned.

Nessie placed her hand on Blondie's face, eagerly conveying what she wanted. Blondie glowered at me with a deadly stare as she grudgingly handed Nessie over. I winced a little as I put the bottle in the baby's mouth, but she definitely looked perfectly content to have me feeding her. She really did _seem_ harmless enough. I supposed I could get used to being a father figure to her.

Once she finished her bottle, Nessie put her hand on my face and showed me that she was full and sleepy and wanted me to rock her and hum. My humming was always off-key, but I was happy to oblige because I knew it would drive Blondie up the wall. Nessie was asleep in minutes, but I kept humming for another half hour until the sound of Blondie's teeth grinding drowned me out.

"Mommy's going to wake up tomorrow," I whispered to the sleeping baby. "It's going to be a big day."


	3. Just the Truth Waiting to Be Itself

**Eep! I know, it's absolutely unthinkable that I went a month without updating. I'm sorry to say, this story gets terribly neglected, partially because I have another work in progress ****that takes precedence, and partially because this one is **_**really **_**hard for me to write. I've never paralleled a book before, and I'm terrified of making mistakes! XD **

**I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. Portions of dialogue in this story are ****taken from **_**Breaking Dawn**_**.**

Chapter Three – A Lie is Just the Truth Waiting to Be Itself

I was under the distinct impression that the bloodsuckers had forgotten that I could hear just as well as they could. They kept talking upstairs or in other rooms of the house, thinking that I couldn't hear what they were saying. Most of the time their conversations were about Bella and her transformation, or they were about Nessie and what to expect. Once in awhile though, they actually had the nerve to talk about me. It made me angry, and I had to fight with every fiber of my being to keep my anger hidden from Jasper and Edward. Somehow, I had to be able to focus on my goal of winning Bella's heart while keeping my goal a secret from those two. The only option I had was to force myself to focus on Nessie and use her as a surrogate for Bella.

Carlisle and Edward were upstairs talking about Bella again. I could hear that her heartbeat had changed multiple times over the past few days, and the changes seemed to mean something to the doctor. Edward was brooding and beating himself up, as usual. He was convinced that he must have done something wrong.

Now, I had never witnessed a vampire transformation before, and God willing, I hoped I would never witness one again. Nevertheless, it was obvious to me that Bella was going to be just fine. I had no idea why Captain Wonder Sparkles couldn't figure that out, but for some reason, he was wringing his hands and moping about like the world was coming to an end. Not that he didn't deserve his suffering. If the circumstances had been different, I would have loved to spend some time reveling in his pain. As it was, all I could do was try to keep focused on the baby, the one that I had supposedly imprinted on.

The doctor was still trying to convince Edward that Bella was all right, directing him to listen to her heart, reminding him about the other bloodsuckers and how their injuries had healed. It made me sick, knowing that Edward had been around to see so many other human lives snatched away like he'd done to Bella. At the same time, I couldn't help feeling a twinge of compassion for the doctor, knowing that he'd done what he thought was right. Regardless of his misguided reasons for keeping them "alive," the fact remained that he had never changed anyone who had had another choice. No matter what I thought of the others, I respected the doctor as much as I could possibly respect an unliving monster.

"She must be in agony," I heard Edward whisper.

My heart sank. I'd been told that the transformation was excruciatingly painful, and I hadn't given much thought to what Bella must be going through. I clenched my jaw and forced myself _not_ to think about the fact that she'd _chosen_ to endure this suffering over spending her life with me. It didn't matter anymore anyway. She was going to be one of them soon, and there was no way to turn back the clock. All I could do was focus on the future and do everything I possibly could to make it as happy of a future as I could for Bella and her daughter. In a short time, her suffering would be over, and she would never experience any type of pain again. If any good was coming of this, it was the fact that Bella wouldn't be able to injure herself by tripping over her feet any longer.

"We don't know that," the doctor was reassuring Edward once again. "She had so much morphine in her system. We don't know the effect that will have on her experience."

"Bella, I love you. Bella, I'm sorry," Edward whispered.

I clenched my fists and moved to snatch Nessie away from Blondie. It was the only thing I could do right now to keep my thoughts from betraying me. Blondie shot me a dirty look, but didn't bother to argue with me for once. She probably had to go put more peroxide in her hair or something.

"I'll deal with it later. _We'll_ deal with it," I heard Edward say. As if I needed another reminder that he and Bella were a single unit. No matter. As far as either of them need be concerned, their daughter belonged to me now.

"Hi Nessie," I murmured softly. She had made it clear that she didn't really care for the "Nessie-Wessie" moniker, so I'd trimmed it down. After all, I couldn't have her going around using her talent to tell everyone that I was calling her by some name she didn't like. That would go directly against what everyone knew about imprinting. "Did you miss me?"

Nessie pressed her hand to my face in response and showed me pictures of myself sleeping passed out on the couch. She had been fascinated by my drooling and wondered what it was. I couldn't help laughing at the absurdity of it.

"Well, honey, there are lots of different kinds of people," I explained to her. "There are vampires like your dad and your aunt Rosalie and your mom—you haven't really seen her yet. Then there are regular people, and there are wolf-people like me. Vampires don't drool, but other types of people do. It's perfectly normal, even though people like your aunt Rosalie will try to tell you that only dumb people drool. She can't help it though. She's a little special herself."

Blondie snorted and stamped out of the living room, probably wishing she'd been able to think of a good retort. I had no actual intention to turn Nessie against her; quite the contrary, I figured it would probably be useful that she wanted to help take care of her. I certainly didn't know the first thing about making a baby happy. Still, I wanted to make sure _she_ didn't take measures to turn Nessie against _me._ This was only going to work if I committed to it fully.

"It won't be long now," I heard the high-pitched voice of the excitable pixie leech upstairs. "See how clear she's becoming? I can see her so much better." She went on to babble some more about her freaky visions of the future. It amazed me how they could just accept mind-reading and soothsaying and emotional manipulation as being perfectly normal traits and not something out of a freakshow or horror movie. I shuddered a little before abruptly remembering that Nessie was a freakshow herself. Dammit, I'd have to watch myself more closely.

"She's going to be dazzling," I heard Alice say a few minutes later.

_She always has been_, I thought before I had a chance to stop myself. Fortunately for me, Edward voiced exactly the same thought. Well, at least the two of us could agree on one thing.

I settled in front of the television where Emmett was watching a baseball game. I tried to feign a lack of interest in the game, but once the Mariners pulled a two-run lead, I had a hard time focusing on Nessie any longer. I shifted my attention to the game, and that was all the invitation Blondie needed to come along and reclaim her "property."

"It's my _turn_," Blondie insisted as she yanked Nessie away from me with more force than was really necessary. I snarled out of reflex.

"Hey now," Emmett warned me. Without bothering to get up from the couch, he held out his hands to both sides to keep Blondie and me from lunging at one another. His wife hissed at me, and I saw that she had a bottle of blood in her hand, ready to feed Nessie. I didn't really _enjoy_ feeding blood to the baby, so I decided not to bother putting up a fight anymore. I just leaned back to watch the game for awhile instead. I could always get the baby back when Blondie was done playing Mommy.

A little while later, I could practically taste the excitement from upstairs. I listened closely and could hear Bella's heart thrumming faster than a hummingbird. I was panicked for a moment, wondering if maybe Edward had been right after all. Was she going to die? The doctor didn't seem alarmed, which calmed me a little.

"It's almost over," he announced.

"Soon," Pixie spoke up. "Should I have Rosalie…?"

"Yes—keep the baby away."

Dammit, why was Blondie the first one they thought of when it came to keeping the baby away? Obviously I hadn't done a good enough job yet. If I had, it would have been "Should I have Jacob…?" I _had_ to do better. I _had_ to be the one they thought of as Nessie's best surrogate parent if her mother and father weren't immediately available. Everything depended on this. Maybe I shouldn't have let Blondie feed her after all.

A few more minutes went by. Bella's heartbeat, impossibly, grew even faster, and then…

Nothing.

Her heart had stopped.

Forever.

I allowed myself to let out one small sigh of mourning for Bella's humanity. I would not allow myself to dwell on it any further than that. Bella was a grown woman, and she had made all of the decisions for herself. The fact that she had made all the wrong ones didn't change the fact that she'd been well-informed about what she was getting herself into. At least she had survived the ordeal somehow. At least Bella would still be around to bring sunlight into my world, even if she also brought with it the sickly-sweet ammonia scent of leeches.

Before I even realized what was going on, Pixie had appeared at the bottom of the stairs and disappeared again, bringing Esme, Emmett, and Jasper along with her. I couldn't help feeling a little jealous. I wanted to be there when Bella woke up too. I wanted to be the first thing she saw on opening up her eyes to her new life.

Still, I had more important matters to attend to. Like making sure everyone else thought that what I _really_ wanted was to make sure Nessie was safe and sound, not facing any danger from her newly unpredictable and bloodthirsty mother. I had made arrangements with Edward to face off against Bella before allowing her to see Nessie, as a "safety precaution." Of course, my true motivation was that I wanted to see Bella for the first time without Nessie around so that I wouldn't accidentally spend too much time lingering on her face when I was supposed to be watching her daughter with quiet awe, but somehow I slipped it past the mind-reading bloodsucker. He'd agreed to my plan. Now that Bella was awake, it was going to be harder to put things past him. He was no longer preoccupied with worrying about her well-being. It was good that I'd had a few days to practice.

I'd also made him promise not to tell Bella about my imprinting on Nessie. I was afraid I might not be able to keep up the charade with Bella in front of me. If she didn't _know_ about the alleged imprinting, I could write it off as me somehow misinterpreting some strong emotions I felt. After all, it wasn't as if I had any _personal_ basis for comparison; only what I'd seen in the heads of Sam, Quil, Jared, and Paul. I could be forgiven for making a mistake when emotions were running so high. If Bella knew about my imprinting ahead of time though, she was much more likely to figure out my elaborate scheme.

She knew me too well.

Therefore, I had to wait until I was _certain_ of my own abilities. Did I have the strength not to race to her and scoop her up into my arms the moment I saw her, kissing her with the same passion and fury as that stolen kiss last year before we'd fought the newborns? Could I really keep myself focused for long enough to convince her that she could trust me to be in her life now without complicating matters?

Ugh, I _really_ sucked at this. I'd let my mind wander to that memory for too long. Edward apparently had his hands full though. I couldn't tell what was going on upstairs, exactly, but Bella was sure making a lot of noise. It was like she was racing and tumbling around the room up there. I snickered. If anyone could find a way to be a clumsy vampire, it would definitely be Bella. Maybe she'd gotten her legs stuck in the blankets and tumbled to the floor.

Why wasn't she _saying_ anything though? I really wanted to hear her voice. I wasn't sure if she would sound the same. Would she be different enough that I would lose interest in her? I couldn't decide whether I should hope for that or not. On one hand, some things would definitely be a lot easier if I no longer wanted Bella for myself. On the other, I had thrown myself into a pretty strong act in order to keep that possibility open. Even if I _did _think everyone would probably give me a pass because of the high emotions, it was still going to look suspicious enough that I'd probably be forced to leave town for good just to save face.

Well, really, what did I care if I had to leave town?

If I couldn't be with Bella, what was really left for me in this place anyhow?

Gritting my teeth, I forced my attentions back to the baby. Blondie looked at me curiously, probably because she could hear my teeth grinding against each other. "Nessie is upset," I growled softly, hoping that would be enough to explain away my sudden strange actions. Blondie's expression softened infinitesimally.

"She wants to see her mom," she whispered.

It was all I could do to block myself from thinking "_So do I_" loudly enough that Edward would hear me. What was going _on_ up there anyway? Then, at long last, I heard it.

"Oops." The voice was musical, like tinkling bells. Bells. Hah. I patted myself on the back for that one. Underneath the strange, too-perfect, auto-tuned quality of her voice, it was definitely Bella. So it was true. She was all right after all. I breathed a sigh of relief, letting the joy of the moment wash over me. _Nessie's mother is okay,_ I thought aloud. That was safe enough to think.

For the next several minutes, I did my best _not_ to listen to what was going on up there. It seemed that Bella and Edward were reconciling, not that they had been arguing in the first place. It was hard to handle. She should have been mine, by all rights. Still, I took comfort in knowing that I would never, ever be banished from her side now, thanks to my quick thinking. I gazed at the tiny baby in Blondie's arms, allowing the goofy smile I'd been fighting back to overtake my features. Blondie just rolled her eyes at me and finished feeding the baby.

One thing was certain. I really _did _have to protect Nessie with my life. She was my ticket into Bella's world.

"Everything was… very dim before. I remember the baby couldn't breathe," Bella was telling Carlisle in response to his question about her transformation. I snorted. So very, very Bella. She was obviously hiding something. The transformation had been excruciating for her, just like it was for every other bloodsucker. I felt terrible about the fact that I hadn't been able to do anything to ease her suffering, and even more terrible about the fact that no one else seemed to know her like I did. They took her explanation at face value and didn't notice the way she was glossing over the details.

Edward didn't even _know_ her like I did. How could he claim to…? I stopped myself. I would ponder this question later, after Edward was gone and couldn't hear me think any longer.

"Of course your thirst must be very uncomfortable," I heard the doctor apologizing to Bella. I shuddered involuntarily. It was unthinkable to imagine Bella as one of those bloodthirsty creatures, going around slaughtering living creatures to drink their blood. Fortunately, Blondie's attention was too focused on washing out the baby bottle while balancing Nessie on her hip to pay attention to my strange mannerisms.

"I want to see her. Renesmee." Bella sounded insistent. I panicked inwardly. I had worked this out with Edward. I was supposed to see her for the first time _without_ Nessie around. That was the way it had to be. My cover was going to be blown if she came downstairs now, because there was just no way I would be able to tear my eyes from her face. Of course, I managed, with Herculean effort, not to think any of these things. Instead, I mentally shouted at Edward. _It's not safe! It's not safe! Remember what we talked about?_

"You don't want to put her in danger, do you?" Edward asked. I exhaled sharply. Thank goodness Edward could be trusted to hold up his end of the bargain. He owed me anyway. I had saved all their hides from the wrath of Sam's pack, not once, but twice, and permanently. Sam had wanted to tear them apart before Nessie was even born, and I was sure they would have come for her even after her birth if not for the fact that it would have been unthinkable to destroy her now that she was my "imprint."

"What about Jacob?" Bella asked, causing my heart to leap out of my chest. "And Charlie?" she added. Excellent, not only had she finally remembered that I existed, but she'd even thought of me ahead of her own father. I beamed with pride. I was still important to her. She was still herself.

"Jacob is _still here_?" she gasped in shock after receiving their answer. I couldn't help chuckling to myself. Did she really think I'd run off and leave her just because she wasn't human anymore? I thought she knew me better than that. Granted, I'd given her all the reason in the world to think that I hated vampires on principle—and, to some degree, I did—but this was different. This wasn't about who was a vampire and who was a werewolf. This was about me and her.

"Bella, there's much to discuss, but we should take care of you first. You have to be in pain…" Edward began. At least he was actually concerned about her well-being. I could give him that much, especially after seeing how much pain he'd been in during the last few weeks. I grudgingly admitted that he did care for her more than I'd originally believed.

"But Jacob—" she protested. Good. She was worried about how she'd hurt me. Good. That would work in my favor later.

I was getting impatient. Couldn't he hurry up and take her to feed so I could see her and plant the seeds for my ongoing role in her life? But no. The pixie had something to do, and although I had no idea what it was, it sounded like it involved some scampering around.

"Edward gave me grief for not getting you to a mirror before the wedding," she said. I groaned. Really? Did we have to stop the world so Bella could look at her new pretty face? Couldn't we get on with this? My palms were sweating with anticipation, which was pretty unusual for me. I couldn't actually remember the last time I'd sweated at all.

"The eyes?" Bella sounded hesitant. "How long?"

"They'll darken up in a few months," Edward explained, going on to talk about animal blood versus human blood. "They'll turn amber first, then gold," he finished.

I had known her eyes would be red at first, but I hadn't really given it much thought until now. Would it sicken me to look at her? I hoped not. I hoped I could contain myself.

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally heard Bella agree to hunt. Thank goodness. Now it was just a matter of time before they got back and I could _truly_ set my plan in motion. I was a little worried. After all, just like I knew Bella better than any of them did, she certainly knew me well enough that she might see right through me, even after I'd fooled everyone else. I'd have my answer soon though. The only choice I'd have if she figured things out would be to run away and live out the rest of my life as a wolf, but that was fine by me. I'd done that for months already, and I didn't really mind doing it again.

"Is Renesmee…okay…with Jacob there? He doesn't like her much." I was startled to hear her mention me again, but I grinned like an idiot anyway. She was going to be so surprised when she found out that Nessie was the reason I was still here and would always be here.

"Trust me, she is perfectly safe. I know exactly what Jacob is thinking."

_Almost_, I blurted out mentally. I was going to have to get better at this, I chastised myself. I turned my attention quickly to the window, knowing that I was better off watching the action unfold than trusting myself with my own inner musings while Edward was around. First Edward landed outside, then a few seconds later, a blur in a stunning blue dress.

The girl wearing it was even more stunning than the dress.

She was beautiful. She was graceful. She was a predator. She was a vampire.

She was Bella.

I gaped, open-mouthed, in awe of her beauty and grace. Bella had always been beautiful, but I was going to have to get used to seeing her be _graceful._ And those shoes. Bella would have broken her neck wearing stiletto heels a few days ago. Just as I finished this thought, she began pulling off her shoes and chucking them back to the window up above. Typical Bella.

Edward jumped across the river effortlessly, and then Bella prepared to follow. She backed up much farther than was really necessary, and when she started to make a running start, her dress split open. It was all I could do not to burst into hysterics, but my resolve was utterly destroyed when she started ripping open the seams on her own dress. She'd probably wanted to do that from the moment she'd realized she was wearing it. Now she had an excuse. A rumbling chuckle escaped from my throat as I imagined how the pixie-like vampire would have reacted if she'd just shredded it to bits the minute she awoke.

She turned back to the house for a split second, and I realized she must have heard me. Well, that was all right. Now at least she wouldn't be worrying so much about her daughter. She needed to feed, after all. In spite of how I might feel about her being one of _them_, I didn't have any desire for her to be in pain. At last, she turned her attention back to the task at hand, and she took a flying leap across the river.

She was more graceful than any ballerina could hope to be, and more powerful than any creature in nature. Before I had time to linger for long on these thoughts, she ran after Captain Wonder Sparkles into the trees, and she was gone.

Now I had to prepare myself for "meeting" her all over again. At least I was free to think my own thoughts for the next few minutes. I couldn't mess this up. Everything had to be perfect.

Bella deserved nothing less.


End file.
